Chapter 480 - 369: Everyone Has Secrets (2)
The group chattered incessantly.
Wen Ying’s expression barely changed, but Kong Jian was growing angry.
’These humans dare to threaten Shihuhu. They deserve to die.’
But Shihuhu tugged his hand, shaking it gently.
"You want my protection? Fine. As long as each of you agrees to one of my requests, it won’t be a problem."
Hearing this, the group thought they had successfully threatened Wen Ying and that she was just trying to save face by making a demand.
"Fine. What is it?"
"You." Wen Ying pointed at a rather attractive girl. "You’re a twin, aren’t you? So are you the younger sister or the older one?"
"Xue’er is the older sister. Doctor Wen, if you have a question, ask it quickly. Once you’re finished, you need to come with us to complete the mission."
A young man named Zhang Shuai spoke up.
Wen Ying looked at the girl called Xue’er, her expression impassive. "Are you Xue’er? Are you the older sister?"
The girl seemed uncomfortable under Wen Ying’s gaze. A flicker of panic crossed her defiant face. "Of course I’m Xue’er! Doctor Wen, what on earth are you trying to ask?!"
"I want to ask how your older sister died." Wen Ying’s tone was perfectly level, yet she saw the girl’s body tremble.
"What nonsense are you spouting? My younger sister passed away, but I’m still alive and well!"
"That’s right, Doctor Wen! Xue’er really is the older sister. We’ve known her for a long time; there’s no way we’d mistake her for someone else!"
The other young man also vouched for Xue’er.
Xue’er shot Wen Ying a smug look. "Doctor Wen, I guess even you get things wrong sometimes."
But to the three of them, Wen Ying’s expression seemed unusually placid.
It was as if she had just spoken idly and didn’t actually care whether it was true or not.
"You and your older sister are twins, born in a remote mountain village, correct? Your mother... she was abducted by human traffickers and sold to your father. That in itself wasn’t the issue, but the place you grew up was truly sickening. Your mother..."
Wen Ying paused for a moment. "She went mad. But she adored your older sister. Even in her madness, she would subconsciously protect her, wouldn’t she?"
At Wen Ying’s words, the girl known as Xue’er seemed to sink back into those memories.
Dark memories.
No one knew just how depraved and insane her birth village was.
That year, when she was seven, was the first time she learned the truth about the village.
Her neighbor’s older sister suddenly vanished on her eighteenth birthday. No one saw her leave, and no body was ever found.
Yet no one around them wanted to call the police. It was as if they didn’t care in the slightest that a living person had just disappeared.
As if this were the most normal thing in the world.
Later, she found out.
In this village, any family that gave birth to a daughter would eventually have to do one thing: sacrifice their daughter to a nonexistent spirit.
And the method of sacrifice was...
And she was the one who had been chosen.
’Why, when she and her sister looked exactly alike, did the family choose her to be sacrificed to that so-called spirit?’
Naturally, she refused to accept such a fate. But she was growing up, day by day, her eighteenth birthday drawing ever closer.
And deep in her heart, a secret grew larger each day.
Finally, on the day before their eighteenth birthday, she succeeded.
She survived.
’As for her sister who died in her place, there was nothing to be done. She couldn’t just let herself die, could she?’
She was prepared to carry this secret to her grave.
She was Xue’er. For the rest of her life, she would be Xue’er.
But now, hearing Wen Ying’s words, the face of her sister, Xue’er, surfaced in her mind.
Everyone said they looked identical, so to tell them apart, the two of them had worn different clothes and hairstyles ever since they were children.
But in order to survive, in the year they turned eighteen, she had suggested growing her hair long.
Her family, perhaps feeling a sliver of guilt, had agreed.
That was what allowed her plan to be carried out so smoothly.
’But now, this Doctor Wen knows everything. What on earth does she want?’
"I have only one request. If you can bring your older sister back, I can help you survive this Mist."
The girl stared at Wen Ying in disbelief.
"I have no idea what nonsense you’re talking about!"
Wen Ying’s calm demeanor began to sway the two young men. Could it be that Xue’er wasn’t actually Xue’er?
They hadn’t noticed a thing.
If this wasn’t Xue’er, then where had Xue’er gone?